Editing Taxi Driver (section)

==Production==
===Development===
[[Martin Scorsese]] has stated that it was [[Brian De Palma]] who introduced him to [[Paul Schrader]],{{sfn|Wilson|2011|p=51}} and ''Taxi Driver'' arose from Scorsese's feeling that movies are like dreams or drug-induced reveries. He attempted to evoke within the viewer the feeling of being in a limbo state between sleeping and waking.

Scorsese cites [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[The Wrong Man]]'' (1956) and Jack Hazan's ''[[A Bigger Splash (1973 film)|A Bigger Splash]]'' (1973) as inspirations for his camerawork in the movie.<ref name="Ian Christie 1989">{{cite book|last1=Thompson|first1=David|author-link1=David M. Thompson|last2=Christie|first2=Ian|author-link2=Ian Christie (film scholar)|url=https://archive.org/details/scorseseonscorse0000scor|title=Scorsese on Scorsese|publisher=[[Farrar, Straus and Giroux]]|location=[[New York City]]|isbn=0571220029|date=1989|page=63}}</ref>

Scorsese also noted that Jef Costello (a solitary hitman), portrayed by [[Alain Delon]] in ''[[Le Samouraï]]'', inspired the creation of Travis Bickle.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Le Samouraï (1967) - Ritz Cinemas |url=https://www.ritzcinemas.com.au/movies/le-samoura-1967 |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=www.ritzcinemas.com.au |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bhuiya |first=Hannah |date=2024-04-23 |title=Sympathy for the Assassin |url=https://www.artforum.com/columns/film-sympathy-for-the-assassin-552703/ |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=Artforum |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Furzan |first=Federico |date=2024-08-18 |title=Legendary French Actor Alain Delon Dies Aged 88 |url=https://movieweb.com/alain-delon-death/ |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=MovieWeb |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kreps |first=Daniel |date=2024-08-18 |title=Alain Delon, French Actor Who Starred in 'Le Samourai,' Dead at 88 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/alain-delon-french-actor-le-samourai-dead-obituary-1235082472/ |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=LE SAMOURAÏ – ABCD Film Society |url=https://abfilms.org.uk/screenings/special-event-le-samourai-jan-12th/ |access-date=2025-04-02 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-07-06 |title=How a French film 'Le Samourai' has been an inspiration to many films |url=https://www.theindianwire.com/entertainment/how-a-french-film-le-samourai-has-been-an-inspiration-to-many-films-276544/ |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=The Indian Wire |language=en-GB}}</ref> The role was, in fact, offered to Alain Delon, among many others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Le Samourai: Alain Delon and Jean-Pierre Melville's Masterpiece |url=https://usa.tv5monde.com/en/blog/le-samourai-alain-delon-and-jean-pierre-melville-s-masterpiece-1186384 |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=TV5MONDE États-Unis |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Taxi Driver |url=https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Trivia/TaxiDriver |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=TV Tropes}}</ref>

Before Scorsese was hired, [[John Milius]] and [[Irvin Kershner]] were considered to helm the project.<ref name="The Untold Truth of Taxi Driver">{{cite web |url=https://www.looper.com/1016894/the-untold-truth-of-taxi-driver/ |title=The Untold Truth of Taxi Driver |date=September 20, 2022 |access-date=June 30, 2023 |archive-date=June 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630234622/https://www.looper.com/1016894/the-untold-truth-of-taxi-driver/ |url-status=live}}</ref> When writing the script, Schrader drew inspiration from the diaries of [[Arthur Bremer]] (who shot presidential candidate [[George Wallace]] in 1972<ref name="Rausch" />), as well as the [[Harry Chapin]] song "[[Taxi (Harry Chapin song)|Taxi]]", which is about an old girlfriend getting into a taxi.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Thompson |first=Richard |date=March–April 1976 |title=Interview: Paul Schrader |url=https://www.filmcomment.com/article/paul-schrader-richard-thompson-interview/ |journal=[[Film Comment]] |pages=6–19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614222918/https://www.filmcomment.com/article/paul-schrader-richard-thompson-interview/ |archive-date=June 14, 2021 |access-date=March 18, 2022}}</ref> For the ending of the story, in which Bickle becomes a media hero, Schrader was inspired by [[Sara Jane Moore]]'s [[Attempted assassination of Gerald Ford in San Francisco|attempted assassination]] of President [[Gerald Ford]], which resulted in her being on the cover of ''[[Newsweek]]''.<ref>{{Citation|title=Taxi Driver (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)|type=DVD, Audio Commentary|publisher=Sony Pictures Home Entertainment|date=August 14, 2007}}</ref>

Schrader also used himself as inspiration. In a 1981 interview with [[Tom Snyder]] on ''[[The Tomorrow Show]]'', he related his experience of living in New York City while battling chronic insomnia, which led him to frequent pornographic bookstores and theaters because they remained open all night. Following a divorce and a breakup with a live-in girlfriend, he spent a few weeks living in his car.

After visiting a hospital for a [[Peptic ulcer disease|stomach ulcer]], Schrader wrote the screenplay for ''Taxi Driver'' in "under a fortnight". He stated, "The first draft was maybe 60 pages, and I started the next draft immediately, and it took less than two weeks." Schrader recalled, "I realized I hadn't spoken to anyone in weeks [...] that was when the metaphor of the taxi occurred to me. That is what I was: this person in an iron box, a coffin, floating around the city, but seemingly alone."

Schrader decided to make Bickle a Vietnam vet because the [[national trauma]] of the war seemed to blend perfectly with Bickle's paranoid [[psychosis]], making his experiences after the war more intense and threatening.<ref>"Travis gave punks a hair of aggression." ''Toronto Star'' February 12, 2005: H02</ref> Two drafts were written in ten days.{{sfn|Wilson|2011|p=50}} ''[[Pickpocket (film)|Pickpocket]]'', a film by the French director [[Robert Bresson]], was also cited as an influence.<ref>{{cite web |last=Thurman |first=John |url=http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2005/37/taxi_driver/ |title=Citizen Bickle, or the Allusive Taxi Driver: Uses of Intertextuality |publisher=Sensesofcinema.com |date=April 5, 1976 |access-date=May 14, 2024 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128221305/http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2005/37/taxi_driver/ |archive-date=January 28, 2012}}</ref>

In ''Scorsese on Scorsese'', Scorsese mentions the religious [[Iconography|symbolism]] in the story, comparing Bickle to a saint who wants to cleanse or purge both his mind and his body of weakness. Bickle attempts to kill himself near the end of the movie as a tribute to the [[samurai]]'s "[[Seppuku|death with honor]]" principle.<ref name="Ian Christie 1989" />

[[Dustin Hoffman]] was offered the role of Travis Bickle but turned it down because he thought that Scorsese was "crazy".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a81436/hoffman-turned-down-crazy-scorsese/ |title=Hoffman turned down 'crazy' Scorsese |work=Digital Spy |last=Dadds |first=Kimberley |date=December 10, 2017 |access-date=July 29, 2021 |url-status=live |archive-date=July 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210722025603/https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a81436/hoffman-turned-down-crazy-scorsese/ }}</ref> [[Al Pacino]] and [[Jeff Bridges]] were also considered for Travis Bickle.<ref name="The Untold Truth of Taxi Driver" />

=== Pre-production ===
While preparing for his role as Bickle, De Niro was filming [[Bernardo Bertolucci]]'s ''[[1900 (film)|1900]]'' in Italy. According to Boyle, he would "finish shooting on a Friday in Rome ... get on a plane ... [and] fly to New York". De Niro obtained a taxi driver's license and, when on break, would pick up a taxi and drive around New York for a couple of weeks before returning to [[Rome]] to resume filming ''1900''.

Although Robert De Niro had already starred in ''The Godfather, Part II'' (1974), he was recognized only one time while driving a cab in New York City.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075314/ |title=Taxi Driver |website=[[IMDb]]}}</ref> De Niro apparently lost 35 pounds (16 kilograms) and was repeatedly listening to a taped reading of the diaries of criminal [[Arthur Bremer]]. When he had free time while shooting ''1900'', De Niro visited an army base in [[Northern Italy]] and tape-recorded soldiers from the [[Midwestern United States]], whose accents he thought might be appropriate for Travis's character.<ref>Rausch, Andrew J. (2010). ''The Films of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro''. Scarecrow Press. p. 31. {{ISBN|9780810874145}}.</ref>

Scorsese brought in the [[film title design]]er [[Dan Perri]] to design the [[title sequence]] for ''Taxi Driver''. Perri had been Scorsese's original choice to design the titles for ''[[Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore]]'' in 1974, but [[Warner Bros.]] would not allow him to hire an unknown designer. By the time when ''Taxi Driver'' was going into production, Perri had established his reputation with his work on ''[[The Exorcist (film)|The Exorcist]]'', and Scorsese was now able to hire him.

Perri created the opening titles for ''Taxi Driver'' using [[second unit]] footage that he color-treated through a process of film copying and [[slit-scan]], resulting in a highly stylized graphic sequence that evoked the "underbelly" of New York City through lurid colors, glowing [[neon sign]]s, distorted nocturnal images, and deep [[black level]]s. Perri went on to design the opening titles for a number of major films, including ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' (1977) and ''[[Raging Bull]]'' (1980).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.artofthetitle.com/feature/dan-perri-a-career-retrospective/|title=Dan Perri: A Career Retrospective|date=March 18, 2017|first=Will|last=Perkins|website=[[Art of the Title]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330215710/https://www.artofthetitle.com/feature/dan-perri-a-career-retrospective/|archive-date=March 30, 2021|url-status=live|access-date=March 30, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/taxi-driver/|title=Taxi Driver|date=September 5, 2011|first=Shaun|last=Mir|website=[[Art of the Title]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330215824/https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/taxi-driver/|archive-date=March 30, 2021|url-status=live|access-date=March 30, 2021}}</ref>

===Filming===
[[Columbia Pictures]] gave Scorsese a budget of $1.3 million in April 1974.{{sfn|Wilson|2011|p=51}} On a budget of only $1.9 million, various actors took pay cuts to bring the project to life. De Niro and [[Cybill Shepherd]] received $35,000 to make the film, while Scorsese was given $65,000. Overall, $200,000 of the budget was allocated to performers in the movie.<ref name=budget/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67148/13-grimy-facts-about-taxi-driver|title=13 Surprising Facts About ''Taxi Driver'' On Its 45th Anniversary|date=February 8, 2016|first=Eric|last=D. Snider|website=[[Mental Floss]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330124400/https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67148/13-grimy-facts-about-taxi-driver|archive-date=March 30, 2021|url-status=live|access-date=March 30, 2021}}</ref>

''Taxi Driver'' was shot during a New York City summer heat wave and sanitation strike in 1975. The film ran into conflict with the [[Motion Picture Association|Motion Picture Association of America]] (MPAA) due to its violence. Scorsese de-saturated the colors in the final shootout, which allowed the film to get an R rating. To capture the atmospheric scenes in Bickle's taxi, the sound technicians would get in the trunk while Scorsese and his cinematographer [[Michael Chapman (cinematographer)|Michael Chapman]] would ensconce themselves on the back seat floor and use available light to shoot. Chapman admitted that the filming style was heavily influenced by [[French New Wave|New Wave]] filmmaker [[Jean-Luc Godard]] and his cinematographer [[Raoul Coutard]], as the crew did not have the time nor money to do "traditional things".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/taxi-driver-oral-history-de-881032|title='Taxi Driver' Oral History: De Niro, Scorsese, Foster, Schrader Spill All on 40th Anniversary|date=April 7, 2016|first=Gregg|last=Kilday|website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330215309/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/taxi-driver-oral-history-de-881032|archive-date=March 30, 2021|url-status=live|access-date=March 30, 2021}}</ref>

When Bickle decides to assassinate Senator Palantine, he cuts his hair to a [[Mohawk hairstyle|mohawk]] style. This detail was suggested by actor Victor Magnotta, a friend of Scorsese's who had a small role as a [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] agent and had served in Vietnam. Scorsese noted that Magnotta told them that, "in Saigon, if you saw a guy with his head shaved—like a little Mohawk—that usually meant that those people were ready to go into a certain Special Forces situation. You didn't even go near them. They were ready to kill."<ref name="Rausch">{{cite book |last=Rausch |first=Andrew J. |author-link=Andrew J. Rausch |title=The Films of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2010 |pages=27–32 |isbn=978-0-8108-7413-8}}</ref>

Filming took place on New York City's [[West Side (Manhattan)|West Side]], at a time when the city was on the brink of [[bankruptcy]]. According to producer [[Michael Phillips (producer)|Michael Phillips]], "The whole West Side was bombed out. There really were row after row of condemned buildings and that's what we used to build our sets [...] we didn't know we were documenting what looked like the dying gasp of New York."<ref>{{cite web |last=Lewis |first=Hilary |title=Tribeca: 'Taxi Driver' Team Recalls Filming in 1970s New York, Current Relevance of Classic |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/taxi-driver-at-40-reunion-887025 |url-status=live |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=April 22, 2016 |access-date=March 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330220020/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/taxi-driver-at-40-reunion-887025 |archive-date=March 30, 2021}}</ref>

The tracking was shot over the shootout scene, filmed in an actual apartment, and took three months of preparation. The production team had to cut through the ceiling to shoot it.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ebiri |first=Bilge |title=Martin Scorsese Remembers Shooting Taxi Driver in New York |url=https://www.vulture.com/2015/04/martin-scorsese-remembers-shooting-taxi-driver.html |url-status=live |url-access=limited |website=Vulture |date=April 1, 2015 |access-date=March 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330220312/https://www.vulture.com/2015/04/martin-scorsese-remembers-shooting-taxi-driver.html |archive-date=March 30, 2021}}</ref>